Japanese Dubs of Western Shows

Japanese
#1

Almost everyone I know watches anime while learning Japanese, but I thought it might be fun to get something to change up some of what I’m consuming, and I found this video on youtube:

I absolutely love Japanese Seinfeld, I grew up watching the English version and it’s been really fun rewatching in a different language. I’ve found that trying to purchase or “procure” this online has been nearly impossible and I’ve heard that things like this are available on Netflix with a VPN setup, but I’m trying to get a hold of this for offline use.

Anyway, are there any non-Japanese media that you all like to watch/listen to/etc in Japanese? Would love to hear more recommendations!

4 Likes
#2

Most Amazon and Disney originals will have Japanese dubs and subtitles. I often turn the subtitles on to read as I watch.

1 Like
#3

Very curious about this as well as I don’t really like anime and have to struggle to get through it. I’ve been trying to find the Twin Peaks Japanese dub for a while and I usually watch TV shows with Japanese subtitles when I can. I feel like Seinfeld is almost too American culture specific to translate though lol like most comedy.

1 Like
#4

A recent personal victory of mine was to watch The Peanuts Movie on Disney+ completely dubbed in Japanese – it was the first time I’d seen it, and I was able to catch most of it! :blush:
(unfortunately, it looks like it’s out of rotation right now)

Also, all of their shorts are nice bite-sized treats.

#5

I always enjoy watching dubs, but I get frustrated because I watch with subtitles (in Japanese as well), and they never match :joy:

3 Likes
#6

Yeah! Agreed! :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:
But I did figure out that they usually make the subs an exact translation of the original English and then they make the dubs a more natural translation. So that’s like an extra credit assignment for me: figure out why they chose those words.

4 Likes
#7

Wow this is very natural Japanese. Western shows that I’ve watched always feels Google translated (Sex Education, Joker, Sherlock, etc.)

#8

Yes exactly! But when you look closer most of the time the subtitles aren’t really what’s being said no matter the language, if you’re watching an American show with English subtitles you should see that the vocabulary is slightly different, slightly more adapted for written speech than for spoken speech, it’s frustrating and that’s a struggle no matter which language you are trying to learn.

1 Like
#9

That’s mainly because the subtitles are usually translated independently from the dubbing script (by completely different people who, in a lot of cases still, have no way to coordinate with each other), and because there are different restrictions (e.g. mouth movement for dubs, word length and different time/space contraints for subs - plus for subs translators can/should assume that people understand at least part of the original audio while they’re reading the subs, so they wanna stay as close as possible with the translation, while in dubbing they can pretty much do whatever they want as long as it matches up with the visuals)

More on topic: Re-watching shows you’re already familiar with in a new language is a pretty nice, easy way to get some listening practice in. I used to do it with Friends in French (only for a little while, until I dropped French), and a friend went through Scrubs in Spanish.

1 Like
#10

If you’re in the US, a VPN isn’t necessary to watch Seinfeld on Netflix with Japanese dub/subs. Though the options may not be visible until you enable the language in your account settings.

image
image2463×1259 196 KB

1 Like
#11

I was excited too when I realised I could do that on Netflix but struggled when I realised the sub don’t match the dubs, too much for my brain to handle. Dubs also where a bit difficult cause they don’t match the mouth movement, so I find animations easier to watch.

1 Like
#12

If you watch Gibli movies on Netflix its really really obvious sometimes. The English dub and the English subtitles say similar things but not exactly :smiley:

Funny enough in some games like Devil May Cry 5, the Japanese subtitles and the Japanese voice were saying different things too…

Can’t win haha

1 Like